HHS awards Ohio $150k for smoking cessation, $500k for public health

Late last month the Department of Health and Human Services awarded Ohio with more than $150,000 in grant funds for smoking cession programs and an attitional $500,000 for improving public health infrastructure (Source: “HHS awards $137M to states for health IT, prevention,” Healthcare IT News, Aug. 25, 2011).

HHS Sec. Kathleen Sebelius said, "These funds will help health departments around the country maximize the impact of the essential services they provide every day, and build the public health workforce to ensure we're ready to meet the public health challenges of tomorrow."

The funds to Ohio were awarded to:

• The Ohio Department of Health-Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Tobacco Quitlines were awarded -- $154,966
• CDC Strengthen Public Health Immunization -- $252,275
• National Association of Local Boards of Health - CDC Improve Adoption and Use of Evidence-Based Preventive Services -- $265,449
• Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center - CDC Vaccine Effectiveness Monitoring -- $201,220

The funds for Ohio are part of $137 million in federal funds distributed to nearly every state as part of the Affordable Care Act.